Prairie Grove Chamber Hears School District Growing, Busy

School Officials Address Civic Organization

PRAIRIE GROVE — Members of the Prairie Grove Chamber of Commerce heard news of growth and new programs as well as construction project updates from a trio of school officials on Thursday.

Allen Williams, superintendent of schools, led the Chamber’s noon program with additional information from Ron Bond, high school principal and Ryan Cook, the lead instructor in the District’s Advance Placement and Pre-Engineering Core Classes.

In the 25-minute presentation, Williams said the district has counted an additional 71 students over last year’s totals. In 2011, Williams pointed out, the District only grew by 10 students.

“We are happy and a little bit surprised at the growth,” he said. “But by my convesations with our mayor [Sonny Hudson] and others in the community, I can say our community is poised for growth and that is a welcome and good thing for the schools.”

Overall, Williams said the district has 1,830 students in K-12 grades.

Williams also noted the District has a total of 221 employees with 140 of them being licensed or certified employees by the state to teach and instruct the students.

He said the district’s budget includes $ 13.2 million in local and state tax support with another $1.6 million coming from federal programs such as school lunches and various Title monies for specific educational programs.

Williams detailed the current construction project nearing completion at the high school on Bush Street. That $2.5 million project will soon host an open house. He briefly discussed the needs of the district’s primary school, which is nearing 50 years old and may soon need major renovations.

Principal Bond told Chamber members the district was aggressive in seeking new educational programs to better the education of the student to be better prepared for college, the job market and life in general.